English 9
17, December 2010


The Truth About Forever Book Review

My book is titled The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen. Dessen has written many other books as well, like, Dreamland, Just Listen, Keeping the Moon, Someone Like You, That Summer, This Lullaby, and How to Deal. Sarah Dessen is a popular author for writing Young Adult books. Five of her books have been chosen as an ALA Best Books for Young Adults, and The Truth About Forever was voted a YALSA Teen Top book. The Truth About Forever is a novel aimed toward young adult females.

This book takes place in present day. The story is set in the long hot summer months before school starts.

The main character's name is Macy. Macy is going into her junior year of high school. She is supposed to be spending her summer filling in at the information desk at the library for her boyfriend Jason. Another main character in the book would be a co-worker of Macy's, Wes.

In the beginning of the novel the author lets you know that Macy shares a passion of running with her father who passed away from a heart attack three years ago. After his passing, Macy threw away her passion of running all together.

While her boyfriend is off to Brain Camp for the summer, they email back and forth to keep in touch. One day, Macy receives an email from Jason saying that he thinks it would be best if they took a break from their relationship. While still coping with her father's death and and taking a break from what she thought was the perfect boyfriend, she takes up a new job with a catering business and meets a lot of new and outgoing people.

A few quotes from this book stood out to me. One of them is a quote that Macy's sister said to her, “You're a teenager, you're supposed to be hormonal and crazy and emotional and wild. This is the time of your life! You should be living it!” Another was a quote from Macy herself, “Love has many meanings, and no guarantees.”

This book is spoken in first person, by Macy, the main character as she tells the story. The tone of voice used in the novel would mostly be thoughtful.

In The Truth About Forever, I think the author was trying to say that in your life there are a lot of bumps in the road and a lot of battles you will have to fight but everything will always turn out. Change is just a part of life and you have to trust what's right and go with it. To me, the author did a great job saying what she wanted about the struggles of being a teenager.